IOWA CITY, Iowa - Perhaps nothing better represented Ball State's offensive failures in Saturday's 45-0 loss at No. 17 Iowa than a decision by Stan Parrish early in the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals had reached the Hawkeyes' 39-yard line, the farthest they had pushed across midfield all game. Already trailing by 35, there wasn't much intrigue other than a potential shutout left in rain-drenched Kinnick Stadium.
Parrish called for a punt, sending Scott Kovanda onto the field. The sophomore's kick went end-over-end into the endzone for a touchback, effectively ending Ball State's 61-game streak of not being shut out.
"I didn't think we were going to make three yards," Parrish said. "That probably was the bottom line."
Picking up yards was a struggle throughout the game for Ball State. It gained just 112 yards Saturday, its lowest total since at least 2003.
After thwarting the Cardinals, the Hawkeyes have the best defense in the country, vaulting up from their No. 18 ranking last week.
"They played good defense," captain and left guard Michael Switzer said. "We didn't do our job on offense. They outplayed us today."
Ball State crossed the 50-yard line just twice all game and had seven drives that lasted three plays or fewer. Its opening possession was a three-and-out, taking only 42 seconds to give the ball back to Iowa.
Coming off a tough loss the week before, Iowa defensive back Micah Hyde said the Hawkeyes were looking to make a statement against the Cardinals.
"I think the coaches just stressed ‘six seconds of hell,'" he said. "Play your role, do what you've got to do, and that's what we did today."
Hyde intercepted Keith Wenning in the second quarter on an underthrown pass to wide receiver Jack Tomlinson. It was one of two turnovers committed by Ball State. The other was a fumble by Wenning.
Parrish was not happy with the way Wenning played and replaced him with Kelly Page after the fumble. Page didn't do much better, but he did direct the Cardinals' two longest drives.
After Wenning appeared to secure the starting job with a second-half comeback that came up just short against Liberty in the season's second week, his performance at Iowa has thrown the position back into flux.
"At this stage, I have no clue what I'm going to do with the quarterbacks," Parrish said. "If I made a decision now, it would be purely emotional."
The play of Ball State's offensive line did neither Wenning nor Page any favors. Parrish called it the most overmatched he'd ever seen an offensive line, and Switzer said his group simply wasn't tough enough.
No matter what went wrong for the Cardinals, it resulted in their worst loss since 2005. All Parrish could do was praise the Hawkeyes' defense.
"Defensively, Iowa is the best team I've seen that we played since that Michigan team in [2006]," he said. "Their front four just ran us over."
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